William
Working in Hua Hin
Monthly Earnings 50,000+
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at a language school and TEFL center in Hua Hin. My base salary is 50,000 baht but I can bump that up by 5-10K a month with commissions plus maybe more for bonuses and doing teacher training camps.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
10-15K
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
10,000 baht. I live in a spacious one-bedroom condo. One big room that acts as a bedroom and dining/living room, small kitchen, balcony for hanging clothes and a pretty nice bathroom. It's on the 6th floor with a nice view of the coastline, a great pool and small but adequate gym with treadmills, weights and a bench. The best part of it all is its convenience as well as how new and in order everything is compared to a lot of accommodation one can reside in in Thailand.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I bought a slightly used Honda Wave (manual gear) for 25k when I moved here. It's the most economical thing to do. I spend about 400 baht/month on gas, I would guess. Hardly every pay for any other transportation. I make a trip to Bangkok maybe once a month, so add another 500 baht/month
Utility bills
Utilities usually come to about 1,200 baht/month. I'm not stingy with the air con
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I don't drink really, so my hedonism is spent on food. 10-15,000 for all food, both cooking at home and eating out. I am a foodie, so I don't skimp. I love Thai food, but also love sushi, pizza, Indian, barbecue spots like Sukishi and Shabu places like Shabushi, you name it I eat it
Nightlife and drinking
Next to nil. I have a girlfriend so what's the point? Maybe 1,000 baht/month maximum
Books, computers
I have a computer which I bought for $300 back in The States more than a year ago. Hardly ever have to spend anything to maintain it. I just get books from friends or exchange or from back home
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
My standard of living is quite nice. I am not stingy or too worried on a day to day basis, but make a conscious effort to try to save 15,000 a month and because of that I have managed to put about 200,000k in my savings account over the span of 13 months since moving to Hua Hin
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Rentals, compared to The West. I can only imagine how much rent would be for a condo less than 200 meters from the beach back in The States. A lot of other things, too, but most are obvious. I think phone bills are worth mentioning. I pay 350 baht/month for a package that gives me 200 minutes a month and unlimited 3G. That would be like 70 dollars, or 2,000 baht back home.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Survive is such a relative term, based on people's background and personality and overall willingness to live like a Thai rather than a farang. 15,000 to actually survive: live in a 3,000 baht dingy apartment with no air-con, use a "burner" (for anyone who has watched The Wire) cellphone, and eat Mama noodles at least five times a week. Don't even think about Sizzler salad buffets or cappuccinos at a cozy cafe.
Phil's analysis and comment
I can think of a lot worse places to live and teach than Hua Hin - especially if your condo is 200 metres from the beach! William really does sound like a guy who's hit it right.
William also had this to say on the question of 'how would you summarize your standard of living?'
"I live better here than I would back in The States, where I would be a chef or I-dunno-what, working 60 hours a week and probably just having enough to pay my 1,000$ rent for a small apartment deep on the East side of Portland, Oregon, where every hipster in America wants to live and has thus blown up exponentially in price.
Sorry, a bit off topic. The point is, my standard of living here is comfortable. I eat out and cook nice meals, live in a nice condo overlooking the coast, and swim in my pool and cruise along the coast on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't have to spend extra time tutoring private students and all that. I like my schedule and value my free time, work hard during the week and relax and have fun on weekends. This allotment of my time defines my standard of living more than anything"
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